


Hold me close, and hold me fast.

by Mellaithwen



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Community: then_theres_us, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Kissing, Movie Night, Romance, The Doctor loves the world of cinema and wants Rose to love it too, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-21
Updated: 2010-05-21
Packaged: 2018-01-18 01:44:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1410388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellaithwen/pseuds/Mellaithwen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s the winter of 1964, and they’re standing in the freezing cold outside of an American theatre because the Doctor insists on taking Rose to see all of his favourite films in the year that they were released</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold me close, and hold me fast.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for challenge 34 at then_theres_us (2nd place!)  
> set somewhere pre-doomsday.
> 
> title from La Vie En Rose.

It’s the winter of 1964, and they’re standing in the freezing cold outside of an American theatre because the Doctor insists on taking Rose to see all of his favourite films in the year that they were released. ****

At first they were picked at random. This year then that, then over there and over here. Back and forth through time and space to catch the flicks the second they were unleashed upon their unsuspecting audience.

But after a while Rose begins to feel the strain of having to change so dramatically from the thirties to the early nineties. From then on they attempt to keep it as linear as possible, which, with the Doctor’s hatred of all things _linear_ makes things rather difficult to manage without complaint.

They plan to start at the beginning—as most stories do—but then the Doctor gets a sudden look in his eye and he can’t stop bouncing up and down for Humphrey Bogart.

“Oh it’s been ages since I’ve seen one of his films, c’mon Rose, pleeeeease, please please, please.”

So their journey starts in the early forties, and Casablanca surprises her.

She’s seen it before, but there’s something about being in that cinema in 1942. Something that makes it more real, more relevant. It tears through her, and she cries.

That certainly hadn’t happened when she’d seen it last.

“I’d have gotten on the plane.” The Doctor says afterwards when they’re leaving.

“No you wouldn’t have,” she says quietly, hugging his arm closer to her. “You always put other people’s happiness before your own.”

She doesn’t see the look of surprise on the Doctor’s face at the sudden honesty. She huddles closer to him and the Doctor puts his arm around her.

“If it was you, Rose Tyler, I would have gotten on that plane. Sod Victor Laszlo...”

“How eloquent.” She smirks, and he scoffs.

“That’s rich, coming from you!”

“Oi!”

“Of all the gin joins, in all the towns, in all the world, Rose, you walked into mine.”

“You’re gonna quote this all night, aren’t you?”

“Ooooh yes.”

* * *

“Oh but you’ll love the fifties too, Rose.” He sighs, his mind trailing back having listed so many wonderful actors and actresses that her brain had began to hurt.

Rose stares at his wistful expression. She loves these moments—unguarded and so telling. He’s not the Doctor, he’s her Doctor, and she feels fiercely protective over him all of a sudden.

“But first; _Brief Encounter_! Simply sublime. Two strangers at a train station, two complete strangers, and they fall in love. And it’s difficult and the timing’s horrific but they do and, well, I won’t spoil the ending for you.”

“Two strangers, eh?”

“Falling in love, and they know they shouldn’t but they can’t help themselves.”

Rose hides her smile as she pretends to stare around her. The Doctor bounces ahead, oblivious, of course.

“Oh, and wait until we go see the German Expressionists! That stuff’s great! A little weird, but aren’t we all?”

Rose’s face falls.

“Maybe we’ll leave that until last.” He concedes, but she hardly thinks it’s much of a compromise.

They see _Cinderella_ , and then _Strangers on a Train. Rear Window_ is a tad boring until the last ten minutes when she’s sitting on the edge of her seat and her heart is pounding in her chest. Thorwald’s staring right at her and he knows, _he knows!_ She doesn’t realise she’s squeezing the Doctor’s hand until the credits roll after a happy ending and he whispers _you can let go, now._

She loves Grace Kelly, and wonders if she could beg the Doctor to let her steal some of the lovely lady’s dresses...

In 1958, they sit in a cinema watching _The Blob_ —when an actual alien creature decided to attack. Rose groans because she’s wearing heels and a rather pretty skirt. She knows, from experience, that this will only end messy.

After much running, and jumping, and screaming from the local population the thing explodes. The papers record it as a promotional stunt and it takes fourteen washes to get the stains out of their clothes.

“What’s next?’ The Doctor smiles, setting co-ordinates and heading for the door.

 _Rebel Without a Cause, Sabrina, Sleeping Beauty,_ and they end the decade with _Some Like it Hot._

The Doctor laughs and laughs and laughs and its deeper than usual, and surprisingly loud in the packed cinema. It’s real. It’s not the laugh he has when he’s amazed or surprised. It’s not the kind you’d hear after a joke, it’s just...amusement, no strings attached.

Rose laughs too.

* * *

_Psycho_ terrifies her, and she doesn’t care about how groundbreaking it was, and how Hitchcock paved the way for millions of filmmakers. She doesn’t care that it was one of the first psychological thrillers of its kind.

All she cares about is the fact that their popcorn is now all around their feet from of all the times she’s jumped up and knocked the kernels over. All she cares about is that final scene, those damned eyes staring right at her from the big screen, and the chill that runs down her spine.

She demands that they go see every Disney film that’s out. They dot back and forth—which the Doctor loves by the way—and ignore every horror, and thriller.

They watch _Sabrina_ again and come out humming _La Vie En Rose_ as they walk back to the TARDIS slowly, holding hands. The Doctor makes a mental note to take Rose to see Edith Piaf in Paris, and then Louis Armstrong in New York. And they would have to go see _Wall-E_ too, come to think of it.

The Doctor is forgiven by the time the credits for _Breakfast at Tiffany_ ’s are rolling on screen.

“Audrey has that effect on people,” The Doctor sighs, slipping down further into the seat and humming ever so quietly to himself—so very content to just be sitting there with his Rose.

_Hold me close, and hold me fast, the magic spell you cast, this is la vie en rose..._

* * *

_Airport_ and  _Blazing Saddles_ makes them laugh.  _The Godfather_ leads to many rubbish impressions and they both decide against  _The Exorcist._

_Who Framed Roger Rabbit_ keeps them both entertained and they’ve given up on seeing anything in order any more.

“ _My Fair Lady_ ,” the Doctor smiles at Rose, twirling her around in the street as they walk arm in arm to the nearest theatre. She’s all dressed up and the Doctor just looks like the Doctor, but that’s alright. He’ll never be the type to blend in, after all.

The man at the box-office is extremely unhelpful, but when the Doctor asks for tickets, the man frowns, smirks, and points to the large sign above their heads that they somehow managed to miss.

 _Kiss me stupid_ , it says, and the first thing that comes to the Doctor’s mind is a series of jokes regarding nudging and comments on hardly knowing the man. He keeps this to himself, however, and simply sighs.

“I may have gotten the dates wrong...” He tells Rose, who stands behind him in a wonderful white winter coat. His hands are in pockets and he looks rather sheepish—having built up this moment rather a lot on the way over.

“Well, we do own a time machine.” she says, coming up close. “And it’s not a total loss.” Her hand grabs his tie and tugs him closer.

“Wha— _oh_.”

After all, even with a rather large neon sign telling him what to do, the Doctor still needs a push in the right direction.

 

 

-Fin.


End file.
